NOTENOUGHCHOICE

American voters apparently are not overly happy with their presidential choices.

George Bush is winning all the Republican primaries, but voters continue to register their protests by casting up to a quarter of their votes for the far-right Patrick Buchanan. Bill Clinton seemed destined for a long, easy slide into the Democratic nomination, but as soon as he became the front runner, voters seemed to have second thoughts. With Paul Tsongas out of the race, they had to have another contender so they grabbed one out of nowhere Jerry Brown.

Now voters may be convinced to go even further afield. Texas billionaire Ross Perot, who has a tremendous ego and suggests he alone has all the right answers to cure America's economic ills, is testing the presidential waters. But before he jumps in, he wants voters to beg a little. He says the only way he'll become a candidate for president is if voters get him on the ballot in all 50 states no small feat, even for a billionaire.

Nonetheless the effort seems to be under way. Perot employees believe petition drives have started in every state and report that about 100 volunteers were taking 30,000 calls an hour about Perot's candidacy during peak periods this week.

Even the candidates themselves especially challengers such as Clinton, Brown, Buchanan and now Perot seem less than confident they can handle the job. Rather than concentrating on their strengths and abilities, they seem to spend an inordinate amount of time knocking down the other guy. It's alm